Independent Lens

Indie Films Series / 8 Seasons

Authentic stories. Extraordinary people.

1h 25m / TV-14

Marwencol: Action and Adventure! Romance and Redemption!

2m 17s / TV-PG

After being beaten into a coma, Mark Hogancamp is left brain damaged and traumatized. He devises his own brand of therapy by constructing a 1/16th-scale World War II-era town in his backyard, and weaving complex storylines around his doll characters. Through Marwencol, Mark embarks on a long journey back into the real world, both physically and emotionally.

Waste Land: Artistically Inspired, Afraid to Turn Back

1m 22s / TV-PG

For catador Valeria, collaborating with Vik Muniz and her community on artworks made from recycled materials has been a bittersweet experience, since she's now reluctant to return to being a garbage picker, the life she knows best.

Waste Land: Discussion with Director Lucy Walker

1m 39s

Director Lucy Walker discusses her Oscar-nominated documentary Waste Land, which is coming to Independent Lens on April 19 at 10pm (check local listings). The film follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz as he creates portraits of people using found materials from the places where they live and work.

Waste Land: Lucy Walker's Fascination with Garbage

1m 48s

Waste Land Director Lucy Walker discusses her fascination with garbage and explains how she partnered with Brazilain artist Vik Muniz to make the film. The Oscar-nominated documentary is coming to Independent Lens on April 19 at 10pm (check local listings).

Waste Land: Finding Art in the Dump

42s / TV-PG

Artist Vik Muniz photographs Tiao -- one of the catadores ("garbage pickers") in the world's largest garbage dump in Brazil -- in a pose reminiscent of David's painting "The Death of Marat."

Waste Land: A Scavenger Since the Age of Seven

52s / TV-PG

Suelem has worked as a catador ("garbage picker") since she was 7 years old and describes it as an honest living, preferable to other alternatives available to the poor living in Rio de Janeiro.

Oscar-Nominated Waste Land Premiering on PBS

2m 9s / TV-PG

Waste Land, one of this year's Oscar-nominated documentaries, is coming to Independent Lens on April 19 at 10pm (check local listings). Brazilian artist Vik Muniz creates portraits of people using found materials from the places where they live and work. We meet Muniz as he embarks on his next project, inspired by the trash pickers at the largest landfill on earth.

The Wunderkind of the Lower East Side

28s / TV-PG

In his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a wunderkind and a phenomenon. Discovered through his graffiti art in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side, he sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and later became best friends with Andy Warhol. Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in a definitive documentary.

Jean-Michele Basquait: Who was SAMO?

1m 4s / TV-PG

In the late 1970s, graffiti tags by SAMO -- the moniker shared by Jean-Michel Basquiat and friend Al Diaz -- became ubiquitous on New York's Lower East Side. Discovered through his graffiti art in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side, he sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and later became best friends with Andy Warhol.

Jean-Michel Basquait: Turning Street Energy Into High Art

1m 21s / TV-PG

Basquiat had a special talent for taking "street energies" and making them into high art. During his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a wunderkind and a phenomenon. Discovered through his graffiti art in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side, he sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and later became best friends with Andy Warhol.

Forbidden Art: Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Stalinist, or Anti-Esta

2m 31s / TV-PG

The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the incredible story of how one man -- Igor Savitsky -- stashed a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions of dollars in a far-off desert of Uzbekistan. One painter represented in the collection -- Mikhail Kurzin -- tried to follow the Soviet style, but he couldn't stand it.

The Desert of Forbidden Art: An Art Lover With the Eyes of a

3m 18s / TV-PG

The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the incredible story of how one man -- Igor Savitsky -- stashed a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions of dollars in a far-off desert of Uzbekistan. In this excerpt, Artist Elena Korovay reacted with some chagrin to Savitsky's zeal for her work.

The Greatest Art You've Never Seen

2m 35s / TV-PG

Back in the USSR, one man created a secret collection of suppressed masterpieces. The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the incredible story of how one man -- Igor Savitsky -- stashed a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions of dollars in a far-off desert of Uzbekistan. One artist championed by Savitsky -- Elena Korovay -- reacted with some chagrin to his zeal for her work.

The Dessert of Forbidden Art: The Road to Uzbekistan

1m 44s / TV-PG

The Desert of Forbidden Art tells the incredible story of how one man -- Igor Savitsky -- stashed a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions of dollars in a far-off desert of Uzbekistan. Hear how Savitsky made over 20 trips to Uzbekistan to smuggle art treasures out of Moscow.

The Desert of Forbiden Art: The Plight of the Nukus Museum

2m 34s / TV-PG

Nukus Museum director Marinika Babanazarova describes how the future of Savitsky's legacy seems grim as its aging, low-paid staff are poised to retire and government support is in steep decline. Recently, the Uzbek government suddenly designated one of the two museum buildings for demolition, leaving only 48 hours for staff to relocate the works of art on display there.

Pushing the Elephant - Preview

28s / TV-PG

When civil war came to Rose's Congolese village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose Mapendo managed to escape with nine of her 10 children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. More than a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the U.S. where they must come to terms with the past and build a new future.

Pushing the Elephant: It Takes a Village...of Women

3m 2s / TV-PG

When civil war came to Rose's Congolese village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose Mapendo managed to escape with nine of her 10 children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. More than a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the U.S. where they must come to terms with the past and build a new future

Pushing the Elephant: Immeasurable Pain

50s / TV-PG

When civil war came to Rose's Congolese village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose Mapendo managed to escape with nine of her 10 children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. More than a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the U.S. where they must come to terms with the past and build a new future.

Pushing the Elephant: Together at Last

2m 42s / TV-PG

When civil war came to Rose's Congolese village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose Mapendo managed to escape with nine of her 10 children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. More than a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the U.S. where they must come to terms with the past and build a new future.

Wangari Maathai Sees the Forest for the Trees

3m 4s / TV-PG

How does the simple act of planting trees lead to winning the Nobel Peace Prize? Ask Wangari Maathai of Kenya. In 1977, she suggested rural women plant trees to address problems stemming from a degraded environment. Under her leadership, their tree-planting grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment and to promote democracy, earning Maathai the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

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